Aside from stocks involved in buyouts, casinos were a bad bet this
year. The gambling group went nowhere--while the market broke records.
Sun International Hotels (SIH), for one, a Big Board-listed outfit in
the Bahamas, was trading at 40 on Dec. 2--where it was at the start
of the year, after slumping to 30 in September. But some investors think
Sun is about to make major moves--and are buying shares.

What's going on? ''A relatively unknown manager, Sol Kerzner from
South Africa, has been sprucing up Sun International,'' notes a New
York investment manager who is buying. Chairman and CEO Kerzner is expanding
Sun's flagship--Atlantis Resort & Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas--and
its Resorts USA hotel in Atlantic City. This means ''a huge explosion
in profits is forthcoming,'' says the money pro. Other big investors:
Fidelity Investments with 10% and Trust Co. of the West with 6%. Kerzner
controls a 40% stake.

Sun's third-quarter earnings shot up from 26 cents a share to 51 cents,
buoyed by management fees from its Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.
Sun also says Paradise Island had ''above-average luck'' in this year's
third quarter. Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to cool to 42 cents,
vs. 38 cents a year ago.

For all of 1997, analysts expect $2.12, vs. last year's $1.51. Next
year isn't expected to be much better, because of outlays for improvements.
Sun is spending $450 million on a 1,200-room hotel in the Bahamas and
$150 million for expansion in Atlantic City.

But profits should begin to soar in 1999. ''Our estimate for a flat
year in 1998 notwithstanding, we expect Sun to more than double its
room count and cash flow by 2000,'' says Mark Manson of Donaldson Lufkin
& Jenrette Securities. ''We're confident,'' he says, that Sun ''will
prove to be a good investment for those with a longer horizon.'' He
sees the stock at 50 to 60 in 12 to 18 months and expects profits of
$3 a share in 1999 and $3.75 in 2000.

Adding to the optimism is Sun's new joint venture with Vistana to
develop 375 time-share units on Paradise Island. Sun has also updated
its 1995 tax-incentive deal with the Bahamian government, which will
produce $6 million in tax savings for Sun in 1998, which should boost
earnings by 15 cents to 20 cents a share, figures David McDonald of
NationsBanc Montgomery Securities.